


Wind and Sound

by blastheart



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Reactions to Lobelia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-10 00:26:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18649186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blastheart/pseuds/blastheart
Summary: Gran and Seofon discuss in the aftermath of Lobelia's fate episodes. References to violence, some spoilers, references to WMTSB3. Maybe not for Lobelia fans.





	Wind and Sound

Seofon has been on the trail of the serial killer for several weeks when he gets the call from the Captain. 

It's not the caliber of problem Seofon deals with, usually, this kind of petty criminal. They're generally dealt with by local authorities, or by the Knights of Eutaxy if they upset enough (influential) people. The Eternals are meant for larger threats, issues that cross skydoms, or for opponents with enough political sway that lesser powers can't step in. 

But Seofon knows that some problems can cause tremendous misery without causing a ripple in polite society. He hasn't forgotten the day he met the twins. 

And besides, something is wrong about this particular trail. The sight of that last village, methodically crushed without any signs of looting, but with every single corpse - even the animals - showing the signs of being tortured to death is probably never going to leave him. 

Sometimes you get murderers who are forced to flee before they loot their victims. This one was clearly unafraid of pursuit and had taken his or her time, but instead of any valuables, this killer had delighted in the victims' suffering, instead. Hell, Seofon is pretty sure this serial killer has been experimenting. Developing a style. And Seofon may not be a moral paragon, but this is so far beyond his experience he's ordered Niyon to stay the hell out of the area and for Eahta to keep a closer watch on Fif. 

So while normally he'd regretfully decline Gran's call - but for a young skyfarer from nowhere island (Zinkenstill, really?) Gran has a talent for getting news faster than anyone else. And it's not like Seofon is getting any wiser, turning over the rubble in this ruin. (Acquiring new nightmares, though, he's definitely done that.) 

Plus Seofon is just plain curious what "something you have unique familiarity with" means. Could the Captain have found a new sword? Some rare artifact? (Seofon has gotten over his addiction to cursed weapons. But he's allowed to maintain an interest, right?) 

When Gran meets him in the fields of Port Breeze with a box full of feathers, several empty boxes, and the evilest smile he's ever seen, Seofon regrets it. 

But only a little. 

"I cannot believe you called the Seven Star Sovereign out to hunt rabbits," he says, later. Between the two of them - Seofon with his swords and Gran, who's using a gun today for some reason - it's a piece of cake, and Lyria and Vyrn are sitting a few feet away keeping an eye on their newly acquired pet cat, which is stalking through the tall grass and swatting at butterflies, completely unconcerned by the monsters nearby. 

It helps that the weather on Port Breeze is as pleasant as always, thanks to Tiamat, and if Seofon is honest with himself it does always cheer him up to see Gran, Lyria, and Vyrn. Setting aside the fact that any day he's not looking at torture victims counts as a good one. 

Gran shrugs before picking off another rabbit in the same motion. "Siero seems to need industrial quantities of these feathers - as you should know," he adds, pointedly. "And I really did want your advice." 

Seofon is a little disappointed Gran isn't using his sword today, but he has to admit the younger man's dexterity with the gun is something else. With any weapon, really. Seofon has yet to see something Gran isn't good at. It's exhilarating and alarming all at once. 

It's also flattering to be asked for advice. Not that people usually avoid asking Seofon's opinion, exactly, but - it's nice. He spreads out his arms magnanimously. "As one Captain to another, and as a more experienced skyfarer, I would be delighted to share my wisdom with you, young Gran. Shoot." 

Gran fires, dropping another rabbit. Seofon gives him the most disapproving look he can muster and is met with a patented Gran deadpan: a completely straight face, spoiled only by the dancing eyes. Sometimes Seofon forgets how young Gran really is. 

"That was terrible, I hope you realize." 

"Oh come on, you walked into that one." Gran sounds totally unrepentant as he strolls over to collect the feathers and drop them in a box. (Two more down, several hundred left to go.) 

"I'm Seofon of the Eternals, I don't walk into anything. What was your question? Not that it isn't fun hanging out with you kids, but wind rabbits aren't exactly challenging." He quirks an eyebrow. "Unless you're offering to spar?" 

"Maybe Seofon of the Eternals should get a new hobby?" suggests Gran, as he closes the box, but sighs and holsters his gun before letting himself slide down onto the grass.

The clouds on Port Breeze are so low to the ground that the grass is a bit damp. Seofon takes a few seconds to briefly mourn the effect on his clothes, then plops down next to Gran and watches as the youth - young man, now, really - abstractedly unloads his weapon and starts wiping it off with a cloth. 

It looks like a new one - a long-barrelled rifle, not a handgun like Tien's, though it's admittedly not Seofon's area of expertise - or interest, really. 

Still, since Gran is being surprisingly uncommunicative today, it might be a good entry point for this conversation. Seofon pokes him in the shoulder. "On a gun kick today?" 

"Mm. Eustace and Tien have been giving me pointers. Silva too." 

Seofon's brows narrow fractionally, though he keeps his smile on. He doesn't keep track of everyone in Gran's crew - they're up to several hundred at last count - but he does make a point of keeping tabs on the Society. Eustace would be one of their highest-ranked agents. As for Silva, that would be the sniper who's pretty much the closest thing to a rival Tweyen has, skill-wise. 

"Might as well learn from the best, eh? I have to say, you're taking advantage of the opportunities you've got." 

Gran's shoulders slump, and he drops his hands, now empty, in his lap. 

"Maybe you didn't notice, but some people tried to destroy the world not so long ago." 

Erk. 

"Oh. Yes, actually, there was a sudden monster wave that kept us pretty well tied up at the time, ahaha..." 

Still looking at his hands, Gran shakes his head, before straightening and looking head on at Seofon. "That's not my point. I know the Eternals are busy. I figure they arranged that to keep you out of the way." 

Seofon had figured that too, but he also hadn't in good conscience been able to let the monsters run amok just because they were a distraction. By the time he'd cut through them and raced as fast as he could to Phantagrande, it was all over. 

Gran sighs, eyes gentling. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that as a guilt trip. What I meant was... Look, I don't mind using swords or daggers or whatever, okay? I just thought I should get some practice in with distance weapons." 

Seofon tilts his head, trying to follow the logic. "So you can... Head off threats before they arrive?" Reasonable, even if a bit boring for Seofon.

Gran shakes his head, wryly. "Almost." He takes a deep breath. "I can't afford to get hurt." 

Aha. Seofon closes his eyes briefly. "You never really did explain to me how that bond of yours with Lyria works." 

"I can't explain what I don't know myself," says Gran flippantly. "Also I figured you would start snooping around anyway." 

"Young man, I am offended by the implication that I would pry into your affairs for no good reason," says Seofon, in mock-high dudgeon. 

"Whereas you pry into my affairs for the very best reasons?" asks Gran, pointedly, but with an underlying warmth that has no business being as reassuring as it is. 

If he's honest, Seofon is a little appalled at himself for being this attached to a bunch of kids he'd only investigated because they dug up some ancient weaponry. Before he knew it he'd found himself rather desperately fond of their crew, and the other Eternals are possibly even more attached. Seofon once idly contemplated the idea of telling Seox to quit the Grancypher, for safety reasons, and concluded that the younger man would probably just quit the Eternals instead. 

Somewhere out there Sierokarte is laughing at him, Seofon knows it. 

"Only the very best reasons for you," Seofon says instead, and Gran rolls his eyes and then hunches forward, locking his hands around his knees. 

"So as you found out, if I get hurt, Lyria gets hurt. I don't mind getting into scrapes personally, but I don't want her to have to suffer them. To bear the weight of my decisions." 

Gran's voice is low and rough. Seofon nods, to show he's listening. 

"But it's more than that," Gran continues, then trails off for a bit. Seofon sneaks a glance at Gran, assessing the tired look around his eyes. 

"I don't want Lyria, or Vyrn, to see me get hurt or see me hurting people if I can help it either. And it's not just them, anymore - I have a really big crew now, Seofon. There are people who joined my crew because it sounded fun, or because they didn't believe there's such a thing as Estalucia and they wanted to prove me wrong -"

"How does that even work?" asks Seofon, confused, then catches himself. "Ah, sorry for interrupting." 

"Deliford is a very conscientious person," says Gran, "It made sense at the time. Also i think it was mostly an excuse because he was worried about us."

"You do have that effect on people," Seofon acknowledges. (Himself included.) Gran shoots him a narrow-eyed look, then resumes. 

"There are people in our crew who are on the run or whose only family is here. There are people in our crew who only just got used to caring about people again. I really don't want to think about taking that away from them because I miscalculated somewhere or was just plain unlucky. And I don't want Ja- I don't want my crew to start thinking they have to start getting rid of threats for us." His tone turns wry. "And that's not counting the ones who can, or already do." 

"Yes, I've noticed you three have acquired somewhat of a protection squad," says Seofon, with amusement. It had been interesting to discover that one of the hereditary assassins that guarded the Erste royal family had switched to guarding Gran, Lyria, and Vyrn instead. To say the least.

Gran sighs and flops onto his back in the grass. Seofon pats him on the shoulder and tries to think of what Anre would say in this situation. 

"It's hard being in your position. You have a lot of responsibility and a lot of people to look after. But you can't take too much on your plate, either." 

"Sure," says Gran, a little sarcastically, "If you have any tips for keeping Cagliostro or Siegfried or Scathaha from going ballistic if something happens to us, I'd like to hear it.And that's just the, uh -" 

"Juggernaut class?" offers Seofon. 

"Close enough," agrees Gran. "At least I know Cagliostro will be okay if she declares war on Istavion tomorrow. Some of the others, I'm not so sure about." 

"I would almost want to see that," Seofon muses idly. "Sir Siegfried turned down my offer of a duel, did you know? I was a bit frustrated." 

Gran snorts and starts playing with a blade of grass. "You really need a new hobby, you know that?" 

"But there are so many swords I haven't collected yet," protests Seofon. (He's only half-kidding. Maybe a quarter kidding.) 

Gran rolls his eyes. "At least that's not the worst collection I've seen rece-" He cuts himself off, turning pale. 

"What," says Seofon sharply. 

"Never mind," says Gran, with forced lightness, "I think we should call it a day -" 

Seofon finds himself flashing back violently to his quarry, the serial killer who works so methodically. And at the same time, Seofon thinks of that report he'd commissioned into the term "Singularity" and what it implied for his young friends. 

That report had seemed to imply that a Singularity attracted unique events and people. That the chain of events would twist matters to enmesh the Singularity in anything unusual, and especially in anything involving life and death - 

Seofon looks at Gran with the cool equanimity he tries not to use in front of civilians or kids. "Gran. I understand if it's not pleasant. But I really need to know." 

And so Seofon listens with mounting fury and horror as Gran tells him about Lobelia. The serial killer Seofon had been tracking. Apparently, he hadn't done his job well enough, because Gran's hands are shaking as he speaks. 

Gran closes his eyes. "I heard people dying, Seofon. I couldn't make it stop." 

"It's not your fault," Seofon manages to say, rage burning like acid along his veins. Small mercies: at least it sounds like Lobelia is out of commission now. 

"He played those sounds in front of Vyrn and Lyria, Seofon," says Gran desperately. "I didn't understand what he was like in time and now Lyria remembers that sound, I felt her crying at night because of it-" 

Seofon grabs Gran's shoulder and shakes it. He can see Lyria and Vyrn looking over in this direction in his peripheral vision, and shakes his head minutely at them. Lyria settles back down. The cat wanders in her direction, demanding attention. Seofon is grateful to the cat the same time as he notes that he should probably ask Tweyen to talk to Lyria, later. 

"Gran. None of that is your fault. A lot of very skilled people were looking for that man, including me. If they couldn't - if I couldn't catch him in time, there's no way you can be expected to. You're a genius, you're probably the most talented person I've ever met, but you're a kid. Even if you were an adult it would be too much to ask. You need to-"

"That isn't good enough," Gran cuts in desperately, viciously. "If Lucilius pops up again with another plot to destroy the world and I miss it because I'm a dumb kid -" 

Seofon makes a frustrated noise and grabs the younger man into a hug. He makes a point of getting in a good tousle on Gran's hair while he's at it. (Feower and Tien and Threo won't let him get away with it anymore. Fif sometimes will, but insists on pranking him in exchange, and there's only so many times he can show up to meetings with some bigwig sporting heart stamps before people start questioning the authority of the Eternals.)

"I shouldn't say this because I'm the chief of the Eternals," Seofon manages to say, "But if that Lucy guy does manage to destroy the world, despite us and your crew and the armies of different countries and the Knights and the skydom police, then that happens. You kids need to take care of yourselves. You need to - Gran, you have a summer fishing trip to plan, you don't have time to worry about Astrals destroying the world."

Gran manages to chuckle weakly. "Siero said she would have a suggestion next time we visit."

"There, see? Sierokarte is always right." 

She usually is, too. Even when it annoys Seofon. 

Gran sighs and disentangles himself, then leans against Seofon again. "Okay," he says finally. 

Good - except Seofon is surprised to find that he has more to say. He takes a deep breath as he puts his thoughts in order. These kids really are rubbing off on him. 

"I know you have a lot to deal with. I want you to call us if you need help." Seofon puts as much reassuring confidence as he can in his voice. "You have the Seven Star Sovereign at your beck and call. You should take advantage." 

Gran is quiet for a while before nodding "Okay. Thank you." He pauses. "I want you to rely on us, too." 

The very idea of relying on some kid skydarers would have offended Seofon not so long ago. It doesn't anymore, and Seofon ponders that change in their relationships for a little while - 

He blinks at the sudden movement and looks down. There's a box in front of him. 

Gran is still pale, but he's managing to grin at Seofon again,and it makes Seofon smile even as he groans inwardly at what comes next. 

"Then let's get back to work," says Gran, that mischievous lilt almost perfectly restored. "Siero needs a lot more of these feathers, you know."


End file.
